Time and the Rani

"Time and the Rani", one of the most hated stories ever, is actually one of my favourites. I had endured an odd relationship with Doctor Who in the mid-eighties, obviously never missing it but being slightly repelled by the darkness of stories like "Vengeance on Varos" and "Revelation of the Daleks". My tastes were exactly opposed to most fan reaction now and at the time and, mostly, my own current perspective. "Revelation" is now officially my favourite story ever, and yet all I can remember from its original airing was a grim, gritty tale. In fact, my impression of it is lost within the memory of Season 22 as a whole. As fans we've spent so many years knowing that Michael Grade was wrong to demand Doctor Who changed its way when it got nasty, unpleasant and adult, but when I think back to when I was a child, I would have agreed with his opinion, had I been aware of it.

The key word here is "adult". It's a major conceit for fans of one of the most popular children's programme of all time to demand that it grows up with them, and damn the kids of the 1987 class. When Doctor Who finally did return to its core values, substituting guns, dark humour and continuity for fun, colour and adventure again, the people it repelled were the ones capable of voicing their opinions. No ten year old kid was going to appear on Points of View to back up poor Pip'n'Jane and JNT as those snooty, bespectacled Liverpool Fan Club members told them Doctor Who had become rubbish. In fact, given that this 'generation' would only be early teenagers when the show did eventually disappear for good, it's fair to say that they even represent a minority today. Nobody argues too hard that Doctor Who wasn't a kids programme, yet the kids who loved "Time and the Rani" don't get heard.

Well I was one. To me, Doctor Who exploded back with verve and colour in 1987. The opening sequence of "Time", as the TARDIS spins through space and then arcs down a rainbow onto the surface of a new, unseen world, is my favourite ever. People complained it was ridiculous that the Doctor regenerated during that scene - to me, it was obvious. He was hurt during the crash landing, so he regenerated. What was so strange about that? Only an adult would point out that there should be blood everywhere, or that it's odd Mel hasn't got a scratch on her. As a child, there wasn't time for such thoughts. For the first time in as long as I could remember, the TARDIS had landed on a strange new planet and it was fantastic!

I recorded the whole of that magical first episode onto audio tape, and so have to confess to still knowing it by-heart today. The cartoonish pink sky and tumbling, pounding music still seem perfect today - yes, I was a kid, so Doctor Who being a cartoonish adventure didn't seem silly to me, it felt exciting! And the Doctor - my Doctor - was just how he should be, buffoonish, small and with lovely hair. Then there were the cool bubble traps, and that great new theme. In hindsight, what I'd grown into with the Colin Baker era was an adults program. "Time and the Rani" had everything I wanted from Doctor Who as a kid - freshness, fun and a new start every four weeks. Though I think I'd still like such qualities in new Doctor Who today.

The series could never last of course, not in the face of such vocal ridicule from the likes of those stupid fan club members. We were the kids loving it, but that didn't seem to matter. Doctor Who had outgrown itself, a kids show that was being forced to grow out of being Doctor Who to satisfy its now-adult elite. Of course, now I can look at "Time and the Rani" and see that it was aimed more exclusively at that end of the market and, yes, there have been other era's of the show which manage to straddle both better. I still loved "The Curse of Fenric" a few years later (although it scared the willies out of me) when the series was finally pleasing the faithful again without losing all of its essential magic. But at the same time, I wish I could have made "Time and the Rani"'s detractors see that some of the Who they loved when they were ten was just as innocent, unsophisticated and fun. At it's best, Doctor Who could appeal to both adults and children simultaneously, and "Time and the Rani" didn't. But if I had to choose, I'd rather see the Children's Own Hero dumbed down for wonder of the young, than made incomprehensible to all but the cynical fully-grown. Every kid deserves his own "Doctor Who" - in 1987, we at last had ours.